[Desire Android Development] PaulW21781:
Afraid it made no difference to me... (thought I'd try a static address for the hell of it)

With Dynamic IP (assigned via DHCP)

# ip route
192.168.5.0/24 dev eth0 src 192.168.5.126
default via 192.168.5.1 dev eth0

# #Screen Awake
# ping 192.168.5.1
PING 192.168.5.1 (192.168.5.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=14.5 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=13.7 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=11.9 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=10.5 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=9.33 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=64 time=7.44 ms
^C
--- 192.168.5.1 ping statistics ---
6 packets transmitted, 6 received, 0% packet loss, time 5007ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 7.446/11.276/14.587/2.462 ms

# #Screen Asleep
# ping 192.168.5.1
PING 192.168.5.1 (192.168.5.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=810 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=732 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=652 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=881 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=806 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=64 time=731 ms
^C
--- 192.168.5.1 ping statistics ---
7 packets transmitted, 6 received, 14% packet loss, time 5998ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 652.954/769.292/881.775/73.098 ms

With Static IP (low-range)

# ip route
192.168.5.0/24 dev eth0 src 192.168.5.7
default via 192.168.5.1 dev eth0

# #Screen Awake
# ping 192.168.5.1
PING 192.168.5.1 (192.168.5.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=1.92 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=43.6 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=14.5 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=2.22 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=10.8 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=64 time=9.36 ms
^C
--- 192.168.5.1 ping statistics ---
6 packets transmitted, 6 received, 0% packet loss, time 5008ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 1.923/13.753/43.640/14.108 ms

# #Screen Asleep
#
# ping 192.168.5.1
PING 192.168.5.1 (192.168.5.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=710 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=937 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=860 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=781 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.5.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=702 ms
^C
--- 192.168.5.1 ping statistics ---
6 packets transmitted, 5 received, 16% packet loss, time 5002ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 702.759/798.571/937.408/89.778 ms

I've found this on Google Bugs... Explains what it could possibly be...

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=9781

Also, where you say 23 is MAX, it isn't...

IP Address ranges are defined like that....

It designates a network address in the CIDR notation (Classless Inter-Domain Routing) which is defined in >RFC 1519<. It provides a more flexible notation of network addresses for subnets. The Number after the slash (/) in your case 24 bescribes how many bits of an anddress a uses as network bits, since here the typical subdivision in classes (A=8,B=16,C=24 bits) is no longer the only way to subclass.

So with 192.168.1.0/24 you have still your typical C-class IPv4 network with addresses form 192.168.1.0 - 192.168.1.255.

But you could have the following as well: 192.168.1.0./22 this denotes IPv4 addresses starting at 192.168.1.0 and ending at 192.168.4.255 inclusive, with 192.168.4.255 being the broadcast address for the given network.